


Presence and Singularity

by Grae_Coltrane



Series: Absence and Duality [2]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Aegis Swap (Xenoblade Chronicles 2), Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 09:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20225668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grae_Coltrane/pseuds/Grae_Coltrane
Summary: A collection of outtakes and oneshots set in the A&D timeline. Rated primarily for use of language.





	Presence and Singularity

**Author's Note:**

> haha yeet I've been stuck on one scene in the next chapter of A&D for like thirty years now but wrote this shit in one sitting, go figure. anyways this was edited p loosely and this particular chapter is set during the awkward time skip in chapter 3 of my current fic project Absence and Duality. 
> 
> I've been tossing around the idea of a oneshot series for A&D titles Presence and Singularity for a while now, but in my block for the main fic I finally got a chance to write out the first shot for it. New oneshots will be added to this series as I come across ideas for them, and each shot will list where it falls in the general A&D timeline at the start of the chapter. If you have any suggestions for oneshots within the A&Dverse, feel free to hit me up with them! I'd love to hear your ideas!

Zenobia hums cheerily as she floats circles around her new group of companions. Thanks to her smooth talking with that shopkeeper and a bit of quick thinking, she’d secured her Driver a fantastic deal on some machine parts. And all they had to do was bring proof that they’d killed a monster that was already dead!

What luck, to have been awakened by the very Driver of the Aegis! The opportunities for self-improvement and _fun_ are endless with an absolute powerhouse like Malos around. Her new Driver seems a bit squishy, but really, that’s just an opportunity to train him!

“Zenobia, how d’you expect we actually get this guy that proof you were talking about?” Rex asks as he trudges on. He walks with just a bit of a shuffle to his step, she notes—he must have hurt his ankle at some point.

She waves her hand noncommittally. “Who knows? I thought we could just drop part of the body on his doorstep. There’s not many gogols around here with that much mass, right?”

The Nopon that’s been hanging around their little group, Tora, she thinks he was called? frowns. “Meh meh, Tora not sure bringing big Rotbart so far possible. Big gogol is heavy, yes?”

“Psh, are you really going to let yourself be stopped by a little weightlifting? If you stop now, you’ll never finish that project you’re building, kiddo.” Zenobia pauses in her looping to ruffle his spike of hair playfully.

Malos, the Aegis himself, gifts her with a glare. “Can you quit zipping all over the damn place? You’re giving me a headache. You’re lucky if I even left behind enough of this thing to _use_ as proof.”

Zenobia smiles sweetly. “Oh, but you’re the Aegis, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be able to control your power enough to kill without completely disintegrating the corpse? I’d imagine that’d be more energy-efficient, too. Your power is great, but I bet you’re _really_ tired after using it. Probably uses a lot of ether up, too.”

He rolls his eyes. “That power doesn’t come from ether the way your wind does. I don’t _get_ tired.”

“See, when you say stuff like that, it makes me think you’re not just going to be fun to fight, you’ll be _really_ fun to fight! You’re getting me all fired up, Malos!”

“…stop talking to me,” he says after a long moment, and she breaks into a wicked grin.

Rex glances between her and Malos with a worried look on his face. “Zenobia, maybe it’s better if you don’t antagonize Malos too much.” If there’s more he wants to say, he doesn’t. Zenobia wonders if he even notices how much of a rift he’s created.

Zenobia lets out an undignified snort. “Maybe if he gets actually pissed at me we can get a good fight in.” When the Aegis doesn’t reply to her playful jab, she moves in closer to Rex, speaking in a quieter tone. “Can I ask you a few questions about our discussion earlier, actually?”

Rex glances at her. “Sure thing, I guess?”

“What’s going on with you and Malos? I tried talking to him about it, but the guy is _hard_ to get along with. It’s like he doesn’t want to even try to connect.”

Rex breaks eye contact with her, shrugging as he continues walking. “He’s—yeah, he’s like that. I don’t know, I just…”

“I know you said earlier you were scared of his power, but I never did get the story on all that.”

Rex lets out a sigh, and slowly, quietly details the story of what happened with Rotbart. How they’d been trying to escape the monster’s pursuance, and Rex had tripped; how he nearly died, how Malos’s fast acting resulted in Rex watching as so much of this living being fell away to dust. “…I guess, before that, I hadn’t really thought about how easy it’d be for Malos to kill someone, and that gogol was in so much pain…”

“Well, yeah, Malos un-created him. I’d imagine that’d hurt a lot. I get why you’d be scared, but…” Zenobia lets out a huff. She obviously can’t let this rift stand, but what can she even do about it? “To tell you the truth, I get why he’s so pissy. I’d be pretty pissed too if I saved someone from certain death and they responded by being _scared of me_. Did you ever even thank him for saving you?”

Rex doesn’t answer. Zenobia watches him with disappointed eyes.

“Yeah, I see the problem here. Listen, I get it. He’s big and scary and he could kill you easily, but so could any Blade. But he’s also _not_ going to kill you, because you’re his Driver, and I can’t imagine how it must feel for him with his Driver actively rejecting his power.”

“I know already, just… I don’t know what to do about it, I guess.” Rex shrugs, keeping his eyes on the grass he steps on.

Zenobia places a hand on her hip. “Make an effort and figure it out, I guess. If you want my honesty, you’re being stupid with this whole thing. If you don’t want my honesty, stop being stupid and talk to him. He’s your Blade, and whether you like it or not, you have to find a way to connect with him. Especially with a lofty goal like Elysium.”

Rex glances up at her, eyes widened slightly in shock. She merely shrugs in return. 

“Sorry ‘bout it, but it’s the truth. You’re getting nowhere if you can’t even trust your own Blade’s power, let alone to Elysium. But hey, you seem like a nice enough kid. You can probably still patch this up if you work at it.”

“R-right. Thanks, Zenobi—”

Rex’s gratitude is never completed, because at that moment, Zenobia spots something. “Ooh, is that Rotbart?” she exclaims suddenly, zipping ahead to what’s left of the gogol.

His face has been left mostly untouched by Malos’s power, Zenobia notes as she floats above him. The others catch up to her soon enough as she’s contemplating the beast, the way his arm and parts of his torso simply don’t exist anymore. 

She hums, placing a hand on her chin. “This guy’s got some pretty big teeth. Bet one of those fangs would be pretty sufficient for proving his death, don’tcha think, Rex?”

Rex pauses. “Oh, um, yeah, it would! But how’re we gonna get it back? The bigger one’s almost bigger than I am.”

Malos sighs, stepping forward. “Give me your sword, kid.” The “kid” in question unquestioningly passes the sword off to Malos, who approaches Rotbart’s head with an emotionless expression.

Zenobia nearly lets out a guffaw of laughter in sheer shock when Malos brings the sword down and cuts out the tooth without flinching.

“Oh man, I am going to have _fun_ with you guys around,” she remarks. “Good job, Malos. Wanna split the workload, or should we take turns carrying this bad boy back to town?”

Malos hefts up the gargantuan fang without a sound. “Do what you want, just don’t get in front of me, or I’ll knock you down.” 

She snorts. “I’d like to see you try.”

Malos doesn’t respond, but regardless, Zenobia can’t help but feel like she’s been awakened into a very interesting life indeed. She follows him gleefully. Maybe someday soon she'll prove herself enough to get him to fight.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find my tumblr [here](https://a-khos.tumblr.com/)!
> 
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